Friday, October 07, 2005

Phyllo Triangles

My Big Fat Greek Lunch Box! Four phyllo triangle stuffed with tofu feta, a fennel cucumber salad with capers and olives, gigantes plakis (Greek "giant beans"), and paximadia (Greek anise-flavored "biscotti"). Beverage: organic concord grape juice.Verdict: I invited my mom over for lunch to help us eat the rest. Twice she looked at the table and said, "Wait, you mean this is what he had for lunch? Wow." Little shmoo says he especially loved the crunchy triangles and the cookies. 5 Opas!

*is amazed* Tofu feta? Did you make it or buy it? *has a compulsion to go experiment with tofu* And biscotti, oh, yum.

It's amazing that you've posted something like 20ish lunches now and little schmoo's never had the same thing twice - you're an IdeasChef! :D (*is referencing an Australian movie, don't mind me*) Where do you get your recipe ideas from? D'you just invent them?I suppose this is what brilliant people who write cookbooks do. I love seeing cooking as a creative process - especially vegan cooking - Kudos :)

My wife stumbled across your blog, and I have to admit, I would like to eat like Shmoo as well. One very lucky kid. Vegan diets have always scared me a bit, my wife is a veggie and that means I eat more like a veggie as well. I posted alink on my blog to yours, I just think the time and care you take in these meals is amazing.

i've been reading your blog for about a month now, looking for inspiration for my own packed lunches. i'm truly impressed by the variety and your creativity!

last month, you made some calzones with vegan 'ricotta'-- is this something you bought, or something you made? the only thing i could find at my local vegan-friendly stores is tofu cottage cheese (not really the same). i've seen recipes online for vegan ricotta, but am a little gun-shy after some very disappointing "tofeta" recipes.

thanks so much for your pictures, recipes, and ideas!

ps. unrelated, but i have googled to no avail-- is there a difference between lentils of different colors? can you subsitute red for brown or vice versa?

Hi, jacinta! Thanks for your kind words. Yes, I made the tofu "feta" myself. Granted, it's not exactly like feta, but it's darn tasty! I've loved cooking and reading about cooking for so many years that I guess my brain has built up a database of menu ideas. They just keep coming to me. I'm sure at some point we will start repeating some shmoo favorites.

Hi, rachmouse! I make up most of the recipes myself and am writing them down. If I use someone else's recipe I will reference it.

Hi, teagan! Thank you so much!! Aren't those beans huge? We measured one at almost 2 inches! They come in a peppery viniagrette, like three bean salad. I rinsed it off for little shmoo, because he doesn't like sweet peppers.

Hi, anonymous! Yes, I made the tofu "ricotta". Like the feta, it's not a dead ringer but it's very good.

Re. lentils, you can use black, green, and crimson lentils interchangeably, perhaps altering the cooking time slightly (smaller ones will cook faster). But red lentils are very different -- they are regular lentils that have the outer skin removed, so they will cook a lot faster and break down more during cooking. Happy lentil eating!

I work at a greek place and the food is never vegan. Do you ever post your recipes? I'd be much obliged to have the recipe for the feta fillo triangles.You really help me out when coming up with ideas for what to bring to school for lunch, my highschool has NOTHING for me to eat, rice and tomato soup gets old after a while.

Jennifer, could you also post the recipes for your tofu ricotta and tofu feta, in addition to the tofu feta phyllo triangles (I know many others have requested it!!)? I'd love to make those items at home.